Little Wishes
by lucky.ninja
Summary: After Naruto's wealthy uncle passes away, he loses everything at the will of his uncle and is only left with the clothes on his back. In order to get everything he had back, he must perform ten challenges. Though apprehensive at first with the help of a little girl and her mother, Sakura Haruno, Naruto soon realizes what these challenges are all about.
1. Chapter 1

**ONE**

He shifted on the bench. It wasn't a comfortable bed; the grass would have been better probably. His blue eyes fluttered open and he groaned, feeling the crick in his neck beginning to throb. The morning sun blinded him and he grunted as he sat upright on the bench. He stifled a yawn and rubbed the back of his neck. His fingers raked through his shaggy blond locks and he rolled his shoulders around. Next time he would definitely take his chance sleeping on the grass.

He rubbed his eyes while his elbows were rested on his knees. This was not how he wanted to sleep. It was completely unacceptable, but his hands were tied. His uncle had a ridiculous sense of humor. Actually, Naruto Uzumaki didn't think it could be classified as humor...it was more like torture. His uncle owned several large companies around the world, meaning he was very wealthy. All his life, Naruto had been well taken care of. Nothing ever went wrong in his life, until now.

"If you keep rubbing your eyes, they'll pop out," a tiny, fragile sounding voice came. "That's what mama says anyways."

Naruto stopped rubbing his eyes and let his hands fall from his stubble covered face. "Excuse me?" Naruto grumbled, somewhat bitterly. Of course, anyone would be bitter and grumpy after sleeping on a park bench for the night.

His blue eyes saw a little girl, possibly eight years of age, standing beside him holding a lacy pink umbrella over her shoulder. Naruto furrowed his brows as he took in the sight of the little girl. She resembled a porcelain doll right down to her attire and skin color. He licked his lips and turned to face her, wondering what she was doing at the park all by herself.

"Are you homeless?" she asked blatantly.

Naruto sputtered a bit, taken by surprise. "Where is your mommy, little girl?" he asked in an annoyed tone. He could believe a young child, wearing a white lace like dress and a matching flower bonnet in her black silky hair.

"Kairi! Kairi!" a woman was frantically shouting.

The little girl huffed and rolled her pretty green eyes. "Oh whatever," she snorted, keeping her back to the woman who came running towards them.

"Kairi, what are you doing? I told you not to wander off alone," the woman scolded as she knelt down to the girl's level.

The little girl, Kairi, looked at the woman. She had bubblegum pink hair, which was very strange and emerald green eyes that were filled with worry. "I was just having a nice chat with this gentleman here." Kairi gestured to Naruto, who raised a brow at her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the woman said sincerely before standing up. She took hold of her daughter's hand and looked back at Naruto. "I hope she didn't bother you."

Naruto stared at the woman for a moment, not able to really get passed the pink hair. She was pretty, he wouldn't deny that and he could see the resemblance in her child. "It's fine," Naruto finally said as he stood up. He started to walk away and didn't say anything more to the pinkette or the dark haired little girl.

"Well goodbye then!" the little girl hollered.

Naruto stopped and turned around, looking slightly intrigued. "See ya," he muttered before continuing on his way.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This story is inspired by the movie/book _The Ultimate Gift_.


	2. Chapter 2

**TWO**

"I don't want to sleep on the bench anymore," Naruto griped as he followed his uncle's friend and partner through the office lobby. They entered an elevator and rode up to the sixth floor. When the doors came open, Naruto watched Kakashi Hatake venture out without a word. "Are you listening to what I'm saying?" Naruto grumbled as he followed Kakashi to his office that had a lovely view of the city skyline.

Kakashi pushed his office door open and ventured to his rosewood desk. He pulled his fancy black leather chair back and sat down quietly. As he rested his elbows on the large desk, Kakashi looked over to a picture on the wall. It was a picture from three years ago during a Christmas party. Jiraiya, Naruto's uncle, and himself were very wasted and took that silly photo. Naruto crossed his arms and huffed loudly, gaining the silver haired man's attention.

"Naruto, your uncle had explicit orders about this," Kakashi tried to reason, but Naruto wasn't having any of it. "You do the ten challenges and you earn your inheritance from him, it's that simple."

"Even in death he gets to torture me," Naruto grumbled as he slouched into one of the chairs.

Kakashi raised a brow at Naruto and shook his head in disappointment. "Listen, Naruto," Kakashi began with a wave of his finger. "I expect you to fail and fail miserably, and I thought this was a complete waste of time. Your uncle encouraged this though and strongly believed he could change you, so I agreed to it." Kakashi laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his knuckles.

"So you'll just leave me like this? Homeless?" Naruto snapped in frustration, slamming his palms down onto the desk.

Kakashi blinked a few times and cleared his throat. "Yes," he answered flatly and Naruto glared at him. "Glare all you want, it was your uncle's wish that you perform these challenges. I can do no more for you until you start doing them." He leaned back in his chair and stared at Naruto, wondering what he would do next.

"You can't be serious!" Naruto shouted, standing abruptly from his chair. By doing so the chair ended up falling over and Kakashi sighed. He knew this would be a mess and he knew Naruto would fail at this. For his entire life Naruto got everything he wanted, to do this to a spoiled twenty-five year old was asking for it. "How the heck am I supposed to survive?" Naruto hissed, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Challenge One: find one true friend who will take you in," Kakashi read off of a list that was laying on the desk. A list that contained the ten challenges that Jiraiya wanted Naruto to complete to Kakashi's satisfaction. "That's where you start."

"How is that going to help me?" Naruto asked with his arms crossed over his chest. "It's obvious all my friend's are assholes. None of them want to help me out, so what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"That's the challenge, finding one true friend." Kakashi smiled weakly.

"I don't have time for this," Naruto groaned as he turned on his heels and left the room swiftly, slamming the door shut once he was out.

Kakashi rubbed his temples and looked back at the picture on the wall. "You're asking for the impossible," he said to Jiraiya with a shake of his head.

* * *

Naruto walked down the busy streets of Konoha. He had no true destination, after all he was homeless, jobless, and carless. As he pulled the hood of his jacket up, the wind picked up and grey clouds started rolling in. He huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets, making his way to the park. At least at the park he could sit under the pavilion, maybe figure out what he was going to do. He hated his uncle for doing this, taking everything he had away right down to his clothes.

It all happened five days ago. The day after his uncle's funeral he had gone back to his apartment and everything was gone. His furniture was gone, the clothes, his computer, his television set, his sound system, and even the food and wine was missing. At first Naruto believed he had been robbed, but just when he was going to call the cops Kakashi Hatake walked in. It was then that Naruto knew this had all been planned.

His uncle had decided to present Naruto with ten challenges. If he could perform all ten challenges to Kakashi's approval he would be given back some of his belongings. At first Naruto thought they were kidding, but when Kakashi pulled out his cellphone and played a video of Jiraiya explaining it was no game, he became infuriated. Of course, no amount of complaining and whining was going to change anything.

"_Naruto, I don't want to punish you. I want to help you realize that life is more than money and partying,"_ Jiraiya had explained in the video, but Naruto only scowled at that. His uncle was one of the wealthiest people in all of Japan...maybe even the eastern hemisphere. "_It's not going to be easy, but you have to trust me on this when I say you can do this._"

Just when Naruto got to the park the rain started pouring. He looked up at the sky and cursed before darting towards the pavilion across the soccer field. For the past five days, Naruto had been staying at the park. None of his 'friends' would help him and his family were all a bunch of snooty rich people, who didn't give a damn about him. His family had never been eye to eye, nor were they a normally family that helped and cared for each other.

The blond sat on a table top and watched the rain pour down on the courts and playground. He leaned forward on his knees and shook his head. To say the least, Naruto was absolutely miserable and he pretty much wanted to say 'screw the world' every passing minute. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, trying to think of what to do. He didn't want to give into his uncle's stupid game, he would find his own way out.

"A friend...a true friend," Naruto muttered, remembering Kakashi's exact words that evening in his apartment. The challenge was simple, finding a true friend. Kakashi explained that a true friend would take Naruto in without his money, fancy cars, cool technology, and luxurious apartment. Needless to say, no one would take him in and now he was living in the park.

"Your sitting at my table," a raspy male voice came.

"What? There are like a dozen tables," Naruto replied as he lifted his head and saw a man dressed in tattered clothing. "What's so special about this one?" the blond asked with a raised brow.

"It's mine," the man said, scratching his graying curly beard. His hair was a mop hidden beneath a lumpy black beanie.

"Yeah? I don't see your name on it," Naruto retorted with an eye roll.

"It's mine," the man repeated a bit more firmly.

Naruto scrunched up his nose and stared at the man for a moment. He shook his head and leaned back on the table. Naruto wasn't going to budge, he got there first and there were plenty of tables that the man could sit at.

"How about we flip for it?" the man asked, taking a step closer.

Naruto looked at the man and sighed heavily. He nodded and stood up from the table, searching his pocket for a coin. The homeless man did the same, but it seemed that neither of them had any money whatsoever. They both looked at each other and wondered what they could do.

"I have a quarter," someone said from their right.

Both of the men turned and saw a little girl with an umbrella resting against her shoulder. Naruto squinted his eyes and pointed at the little girl. He was certain it was the same little girl from yesterday. She smiled and held the quarter out towards them. Naruto stared at her for a little bit longer wondering what she was doing at the park again while it was raining.

"Uh...thanks," Naruto muttered, glancing around for the child's pink haired mother. "Call it," Naruto said as he flipped the coin.

The homeless man caught the coin, but said nothing at all. He looked at Naruto for a moment and then glanced to the little girl. Next thing Naruto knew, the man was running off with the coin. Naruto waved the matter off and scoffed as he sat back down on the table. The little girl on the other hand stared at the homeless man that was running across the basketball courts in the rain.

"Um, aren't you going to go after him?" she asked curiously, pointing at the man who was long gone by this point.

"I don't care," Naruto replied simply as he climbed onto the wooden table top and laid on it, letting his legs dangled off the side of it. "Shouldn't you be with your mom?" the blond asked as he rested his head in the palms of his hands.

"We were going to have lunch, but it started raining," the little girl said as she took a seat at the table. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders and she stared at Naruto curiously. "So your homeless, aren't you?"

"Temporarily," Naruto answered snootily, not in the mood to deal with a little brat. "Don't you have something better to do? Didn't your mommy teach you not to talk to strangers?" Naruto asked, turning his head to face the little girl.

She shrugged her shoulders. "You aren't a stranger," she said, and Naruto furrowed his brows. "You are the bum who lives in the park. I've been watching you."

Naruto sat up and swung his legs over, so his feet were planted firmly on the bench. He stared at the little girl curiously. "Watching me?" he repeated, slightly disturbed that a young girl was watching him.

"Kairi!"

"Oh brother," Kairi sighed with a shake of her head.

Naruto glanced up and saw the pink haired woman jogging up. She was damp from the rain and looked tired. "Kairi," the woman sighed. "You have to stop running off like that. I was worried."

"Mom we come here every weekend, I know my way around," Kairi explained as she got up from the bench. "Besides, I was just saying hello to this gentleman from the other day."

The pinkette stared at her daughter for a moment before placing her hands on her hips. She shook her head and pressed her lips together as she looked at the blond sitting on the table. "Well my daughter seems quite fond of you," the young woman said with a weak smile.

"For reasons unknown," Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yes," the woman agreed with a single nod. "Honey, let's go please." She held her hand out to her daughter.

"But mom, he's hungry," Kairi explained, gesturing to Naruto. As if on cue, Naruto's stomach growled. "See. We made an extra sandwich."

"I'm fine, go wherever it was you were going to go," Naruto interjected, waving the two of them off.

Kairi got up from the bench and walked over to her mom, digging in the large tote she was holding. A few seconds later, Kairi plucked out a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and a juice box. She turned on her heels and walked back to Naruto, placing the sandwich and juice beside him on the table.

"It's peanut-butter and jelly," Kairi said.

Naruto looked down at the food for a moment before looking back to the little girl. She smiled at him and rested her umbrella on her shoulder again. "Thanks." Naruto nodded to the little girl.

"You're welcome," Kairi replied before looking back to her mom. "Okay, let's go."

Naruto bit his lip as he watched the pinkette and her daughter go. He looked back to the food, unwrapped the sandwich from the plastic wrap and began to eat.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks for commenting and following this story!


	3. Chapter 3

**THREE  
**

Two weeks. Fourteen days. It was completely and utterly ridiculous that Naruto had been homeless for that long. He felt disgusting, he looked like a bum...well, he was a bum. Food was very hard to come back, in fact the other day he gave in and went to a soup kitchen. He felt so pathetic, he knew he could do better and was better than this. He was a Namikaze after all, that name alone meant something in the world of business. Alas, Naruto was still living in the park, living off of...well nothing.

It was lunch time at the park on a Sunday and many parents brought their kids to the playground. Naruto was sitting on a wooden picnic table, watching people eating sandwiches, chips, ice cream, and some even had barbecues going. His mouth was watering at the mere sight of it and the smell got his stomach growling. Naruto sighed dejectedly and laid flat on his belly. He buried his head in his arms and began drifting off.

After about ten minutes, Naruto's hunger finally beat his boredom. He huffed and lifted his head. When his blue eyes adjusted to the bright sunny afternoon, he noticed that little girl again. She was smiling at him and was holding up a bag. Naruto raised a brow and sat up from the table top. When he took it from her, he opened it up carefully and peered inside.

"What's this?" Naruto asked.

The little girl giggled at his question. "What's it look like silly?" she asked him, putting her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels.

Naruto blinked a few times and put the bag down on the table. "Why are you helping me?" he asked curiously. He did appreciate her help, but they didn't even know each other. This little girl had no reason to help him at all, but she did it anyways. Naruto couldn't even begin to understand. It wasn't like he was doing her any favors and he wasn't exactly that nice to her.

"You need it, duh!" she chuckled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So you brought me a tooth brush, tooth paste, and a clean pair of underwear to help me?" Naruto inquired.

The little girl nodded and climbed up onto the table, taking a seat next to him. She brushed her hair behind her ear and looked at Naruto. "Mom says when people have on clean underwear they are a lot happier."

Naruto snickered and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know what makes them even happier?"

"A clean mouth, that's what the tooth paste and tooth brush is for," she chimed.

Naruto let his head fall between his shoulders and sighed. "Sure, but so does a fully furnished house, a car, and lots of money."

"I thought as much, so I came prepared," Kairi said with a bright smile and pulled her small satchel onto her lap. She unbuttoned the flap and started digging around inside.

Naruto watched curiously, wondering if she was perhaps like Mary Poppins with a purse that contained everything a person needed. "How old are you?" Naruto inquired with a raised brow.

"I'm eight and a half, thank you very much," Kairi answered. "Ah, here you go!" she beamed as she plucked out a toy car, an envelope, and a drawing of some sort.

Naruto was not assumed as he took the toy car from her. "This wasn't exactly what I meant," the blond man pointed out with a scrunched up nose. His blue eyes fell onto the little girl wearing the white capri pants and black tank top. "I meant one I could fit in and drive."

"My mama always told me to enjoy the little things," Kairi informed him with a wave of her finger as if she were teacher talking to her students. When she smiled at him Naruto shook his head and put the car down and opened up the envelope.

"And money I can buy things with," Naruto said as he pulled out the play money that was tucked inside the envelope. "Not monopoly money." He showed her a fake smile and batted his lashes before tossing the envelope down beside the car. His hand went for the folded up paper and when he opened it up, he stifled a laugh.

"Do you like it?" Kairi asked as Naruto stared at her drawing.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nice, but again not what I meant." He handed the drawing back to her. Naruto was being genuine when he said it was nice, much nicer than what any other eight year old could do. Maybe even better than what he could do himself. "So do you come here all the time?" he asked, since this was the third time he had come across Kairi.

"My mom and I like to have picnics here," Kairi explained to him with a small smile. "She says it's good to enjoy the outdoors." The little girl shrugged her small shoulders and started braiding a strand of her black hair.

"So you just about listen to everything your mother says excepting running off and talking to strangers," Naruto clarified with a small laugh.

Kairi let out an exaggerated sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. "She worries to much," the young child explained with a shrug. "She treats me like I'm six years old."

"Well in her defense you are only eight," Naruto pointed out, looking to the girl.

When their eyes locked, Kairi narrowed her eyes. "I'm eight and a half!" she snapped boldly, causing Naruto to roll his eyes. When they were young it was all about quarters and halves, but the second they hit thirty it was all about being two or three years young that they actually were.

"Well, I knew she'd be here with you," Kairi's mother huffed.

Both Naruto and Kairi turned to see the pink haired woman standing before them. Her hands were on her hips and she shook her head. She looked lovely in the sun pouring through the skylight. The wind caused her pink hair to flutter about her pretty face. The skirt of her dress swirled around her slender legs and she shook her head.

"I was only bringing him some gifts," Kairi explained as she hopped off the table. "I mean look at him." The little girl gestured to Naruto, who was slightly insulted. She had a point though, he looked like complete and absolute crap.

"Sweetheart that's not nice," her mother chided, looking to Naruto apologetically. "When I said make friends, I kind of meant someone your own age."

Naruto was intrigued by the woman's words. She needed a friend and it just so happened he needed one too. Maybe this was the break he was waiting for. If he completed one of the challenges maybe he could get his apartment back.

"You need a friend?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

"Mom says it will be good for me," Kairi explained, turning on her heels to look at Naruto. The little girl looked back to her mom and bit her lip. "Come on mom, he's not that smelly."

Naruto rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples. He didn't understand what exactly was happening, but if he could win the mother's trust there was a good chance he could introduce them to Kakashi, get his apartment back and pretend none of this ever happened.

"Kairi," her mother scolded with a shake of her head. "Manners."

"Sorry." Kairi bit her lip and sat back down beside Naruto.

"I'm Naruto Namikaze," he introduced politely, holding his hand out to the pink haired woman. She looked at him for a moment, he assumed it was the name that got her attention. After a few more seconds, she smiled at him and took hold of his hand.

"Sakura Haruno," she said, shaking his hand a few times before letting go. "I'm sorry about your uncle."

Naruto looked down and cleared his throat. "Yeah, thanks," he looked back at Sakura, meeting her emerald green eyes.

"Your uncle was Mr. Jiraiya!" Kairi exclaimed with excitement.

Naruto was slightly confused by her outburst. "Yes, did you know him?"

Kairi and Sakura both nodded their heads. Naruto was surprised by that, they didn't seem like the type of people his uncle would know...well, maybe Sakura. He always was a perverted old man.

"Now tell me, what are you doing living like a bum at the park?" Sakura asked.

"It's complicated," he replied.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I loved all the feedback everyone, thanks so much!


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